Chapter XVII

Hikaru, Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha reached the northern border of the Western Lands by nightfall. Sesshomaru stopped which made Hikaru stopped behind him. Inuyasha stopped near his brother with a questioning look on his face.

Sesshomaru stated, "We camp here tonight."

"But sister and Kagome..."

"You don't think this Sesshomaru wants to get there as soon as possible. We must rest."

"Lord Sesshomaru is right, hanyou."

"Keh!" He put his arms in the fire-rat kimono's sleeves.

"Hikaru?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Go and gather some firewood and make a fire. This one will go hunt."

"Yes, my lord."

When Sesshomaru returned to camp, Hikaru already had the fire going. Sesshomaru gave Inuyasha the prey that he hunted down. The hanyou skinned and, then, cut it up with his claws. He gave a part of it to Sesshomaru and another part to Hikaru. He put his portion in the fire to cook 'til it was half way done as the two daiyoukai ate theirs raw.

At dawn, they woke up and made their way towards the Northern Palace where Kagome and Inuhime were held captive.

Meanwhile, Arashi was sitting in his study doing some paperwork that had been neglected. He hated it, but he must keep track on the reports and/or etc... that has been happening on his lands.

His eldest son, Ryutaro came into the study and announced, "Father, Lord Sesshomaru, General Hikaru, and the hanyou, Inuyasha, are on their way here."

"Hn. Good. Make the preparations."

"Yes, Father. I will make them right away." He left the study.

Inuhime woke up after daybreak, while Kagome slept soundly next to her. She has been trying to use both of her powers to get them free. When she used her youki, reiki would flare up to neutralized it. It would done the same in vice versa. She tried to put in all her powers to break the chains, but yet again, no avail. She stopped to rest so she may try again. On second thought, maybe not. It would be the same result. So instead, she closed her eyes to probe the chain gently to find some sort of weakness. She sensed that they put the same if not more youki in the chains. The strongest youki she felt was Arashi's. Then a question came to mind: where would they find reiki? She doubt that they got it from a monk or a miko. A dark miko, perhaps? No, the chains were made of reiki. She had heard stories that there were some miko could create weaponry from their reiki. However, that was very rare skill to have. Another question came to mind: Who made the chains? She studied the reiki like she did with the youki. She wanted to know if she could recognized whose reiki it was. She opened her eyes in shock.

"It can't be," she whispered. She, tightly, closed her eyes and shook her head as if she were to shake that thought away. "If Sesshomaru finds out, she'll suffer at his claws. I need to find out the truth before Sesshomaru gets here."

She could feel them coming. She closed her eyes to see how far they were from the palace. "They are near." She also felt another... two, actually, coming from the inside. She furrowed her eyebrows. She noticed one was male; the other, female. She reopened her eyes just in time to see who would come inside the dungeon. She heard the door opening up, squeaking, then slammed shut. She heard two pairs of footsteps walking down the hallway til they came to a stop. She kept her head down. She heard keys jingling along with the cell door opening.

As a ryuyoukai pushed a female inuyoukai into the cell, he yelled, "Get in there, you filthy dog!"

The said female was panting as she held onto the bars of the cell while she yelled, "Bastard!"

She laid her head against the bars taking in deep breaths as the ryuyoukai walked out of the dungeon slamming the door on his way out. Inuhime raised up her head to see if she may have known this one. Her eyes widen in recognition. She did know this one.

"Zokushi?"

The female looked at her. "Yes? Who are you?"

"You don't remember me. I am Inuhime, the Princess of the Western Lands, but you called me, Inuki."

The one now known as Zokushi tilted her head and thought for a moment. She squealed in delight as she remembered who this other female was. "I remember. You used to call me, Zoku."

Inuhime smiled. "Yes. Who would had thought we would be reunite under such circumstances."

Zokushi smiled. "Yeah." Then she frowned. "How did you get here, Inuhime?" She looked beside her long lost friend. "And who's the human?"

Inuhime looked where she was looking at. "Her name's Kagome. She's acquainted with Sesshomaru and my little half-brother, Inuyasha. We were captured by those stupid dragons." Zokushi nodded in understanding. "And you?"

"I was captured after they commissioned me to make them some chains that could repel reiki and youki powers for those who have either power or both like you and I. Setsuna and I had tea and next thing I knew, I was here in this cell."

"I knew that you were the one who made these chains. The question I would like to know is why you made them."

"They paid me." She shrugged. "Besides the West and the North are at peace... right?"

"We were." Inuhime looked at her and the chains in contemplation. "Zoku... since you created these chains, do you know how to counterattack them?"

"The two opposite powers are suppose to be balanced."

"There's more youki than reiki. So, what do you suggest?"

"Well, it was made to keep the captives from escaping. So..."

"So... I can't remove these, can't I?"

Zokushi sighed. "No, but anyone who isn't connected to them could. They could use their powers. Well, it also depends on how strong their youki and/or reiki are."

"Hmm...Hypothetically, Sesshomaru could erode these chains with his poison?"

Zokushi nodded. "Precisely."

"Could you free us since you aren't chained up?"

"I can't." She rose up both of her arms to show that she, too, was powerless to escape. She wore two chain-less bracelets on each wrist. These bracelets are suppose to render the prisoner's powers useless.

"Well, that's great. Do you know what Arashi's planning?"

"If I have to guess, he wants revenge. He wants to kill the InuTaisho bloodline."

"I see. What is he planning to do with us?"

"After he gets his revenge, he'll recreate the Ryukotsusei bloodline."

Inuhime scoffed. "Does he understand that if he forces us that we could possibly purify his offspring?"

"Tck, he's too arrogant and ignorant to understand our unique powers."

"True, but what about Kagome's power?"

"I, honestly, don't know, Inuki."

Inuhime thought, "Please hurry, Sesshou... Inuyasha... Hikaru." She could feel their youki coming ever closer to them. She could also feel the ryuyouki going towards them. "Please Kami help them defeat these dragons."

Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi

Fanfiction & OCs (c) ladytari